


Friction

by CaptainRexika



Series: Jotopa and the 115th Legion [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angry Shower sex, F/M, angry shower arguing, lots of swearing mostly in a small bathroom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 18:25:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19323628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainRexika/pseuds/CaptainRexika
Summary: Toby and Jotopa's relationship didn't exactly get off to the best start despite that first explosive collision.





	Friction

**Author's Note:**

> Mando'a translated at the bottom! 
> 
> This takes place after Mutual Attraction but much before Blue and the rest of the 115th join them. There's a period of about six months to a year where Jotopa and Toby traveled together alone after they first get together. This happens two or so months after their first time.

They were on the down slope of a recovery mission that saw them shebs deep in a little bit of totally avoidable trouble when Toby finally lost his the fight with his temper.. 

It wasn’t just the mission. They’d had worse trouble than this, though this was a pretty nasty situation. Literally, in this case. He kriffing hated sewers of any kind, used to dry heave when they went though the exercises on Kamino (they were fucking disgusting, and the very thought of them made his skin crawl), so of course the only safe place for them to hide while the city watch of the sprawling metropolis they were trapped in was crawling all over the karking place looking for them was the kriffing sewer. He’d watched Jotopa pull back the manhole cover, his stomach roiling with nausea and distaste, and jumped in after her with a low curse, landing neatly on the balls of his feet and glad for once that he didn’t have his armor on. He would have never been able to get the smell of shit and piss out of the duraplast no matter how much he scrubbed. 

They ran down the slimy tunnels for what felt like hours, Jotopa’s keen sense of direction and connection with the Force their only guide in the murky gloom. He ran after her, every putrid breath of air pulled into his lungs only heightening the anger churning deep in his gut as he thought about just why he was so incredibly angry at her.

Two months. Two long, agonizing months since that night in her quarters in the Jedi Temple, since he tasted her lips, had her in his arms, her naked skin against his. Two months since he’d felt her heat, caught her moans in his mouth, had her come undone all around him. It was all he could think about, leaving him in a perpetual state of semi arousal that left him irritable and grouchy, feelings that were compounded by the fact that she would hardly look him in the eye now. They’d parted that day on such good terms. He’d been sure everything was fine between them if not better than it had been before, spent the rest of the night and the better part of the next day in bed together, kissing and talking and making love. He’d been so damned happy when he finally left the warmth of her arms, returning to the officer’s barracks with such a dazed and blissful look on his face that Rex had actually pressed a hand to his forehead to check for fever, but slowly over the course of about a week, Jotopa became more and more withdrawn from him, more and more like the Jedi he worked with before, that the old fear he thought was gone for good once again sparked to life within him, and that only served to piss him off even more even as he came to the only conclusion that made sense.

She’d said it wasn’t a one off, and he’d believed her; like an idiot, he’d believed her, but she’d only been using him, like all the other Jedi he served with had. She was no better, and he’d been so stupid to believe otherwise. 

“We’ll stop here for a moment, Captain. Our ship isn’t far off,” Jotopa’s soft voice suddenly called out as she stopped at an intersection. Toby’s ire spiked.

“Then we should keep going until we get to the ship, sir,” he tersely replied, the thought of spending one second more than necessary down in the sewers more than he could bear. Her shoulders stiffened at his tone, her head cocking slightly, but she didn’t turn around, a fact that only pissed him off more. His anger was like a feral animal that he could only barely keep pacified with snarky little comments and subtle acts of insubordination. It wouldn't be long before he said or did something that he didn't mean to do or say, he just knew it. His anger lived too close to the surface of his skin for him to let his guard down for even a moment. It was too willing to strike out, to hurt the one person he would gladly give his life, his very soul, to see live even a breath longer, so close was the simmering rage, the wounded pride and hurt feelings that lurked just beneath his tawny brown skin. Anger warred with that terrifying, unnamed emotion that filled his being every time he saw her smile, demanding that he cause her the same pain and heartache she brought him every time he reached for her and she pulled away, every time she wouldn’t meet his gaze, every time she shied away from his touch as though it burned her. He wanted to be the bigger person, to be mature and professional about the entire thing, but he wanted her so badly, and she was making him feel like shit. All he could do was suck his teeth and swallow back as much of his anger as he could stand. He was able to stand less and less each day.

“No. We’ve been going nonstop all day. A little break won’t kill you, Captain,” she said firmly, and Toby had to resist the urge to sneer at her back. How did she know what would kill him and what wouldn’t? What was good for him and what wasn’t? He was a command rated clone, wasn’t he? He wasn’t some regular human, to be undone by a few measly hours of running. It would take much more than anything they’d ever gotten into for him to even catch his second wind. Did she think him so weak? He gritted his teeth, sighed heavily through his nose. Calm down, 4267, he sternly instructed himself.

“I don’t doubt that, but why spend any more time here than we have to?” He said, annoyance lending his words a harsh edge despite his best efforts, but she was really trying him. Where did she get off pretending she gave a single shab about him after what she pulled? Making him believe that she actually wanted him, felt the same way about him as he felt about her, when all along he was just a curiosity to be satiated, an itch to be scratched? 

She shrugged, her back still to him, dismissing him as though he were a youngling at the Temple, and the ease of the movement set his teeth on edge. “It’s just for a few moments, Captain. I think you can deal.” 

What he meant to say in reply to her (because he was in control of himself, dammit, and no one could force him to say something he didn’t want to, not even himself) was something along the lines of, “As you say, sir,” but what he actually ended up biting out was, “ _sooran ni’jagyc_ ,” forgetting, in his frustration, that Jotopa was just as, if not more, fluent in Mando’a as he, and the odds of her not understanding what he just said were almost null. And indeed, Jotopa’s reaction was nearly instantaneous: her already tense posture tightening even more as she processed his low spoken words, hands clenching into two fists even as her arms cocked back (as if she were gearing up for a fight!), her head momentarily dropping before snapping back up as she abruptly said, “You know, I think I’m all rested up. Let’s get back to the ship and off this kriffing planet.” 

He swallowed heavily and followed after his suddenly energized Jedi, not sure if he was more surprised at what he’d said or enthralled by the elegance of her running form. His lips pursed, he picked up speed, breathing a sigh of relief when she reached a ladder and began to climb it, lifting the manhole cover away with the Force and leaping through. He vaulted up after her, quietly replacing the cover and dashing off into the brush where they hid their ship. Jotopa disappeared in the direction of her quarters as soon as they got on, leaving the details of their departure to him. Toby scoffed, already on his way to the cockpit to see them off the planet and to the closest Outpost he could find. So. That’s how it was going to be between them now, was it? She was just going to ignore everything he said? Fine. He didn’t give a damn about her anyway. 

Only once they were safely in hyperspace did Toby begin to relax. He slowly trudged to his quarters and grabbed a pair of blacks before heading to their communal fresher. Now that the mission was over, the stress and anxiety that enabled him to work up the energy to be angry was gone, and all that was left was a deep sense of hurt and loss. He didn’t know what he’d done that Jotopa was so distant now, so distant there might as well have been a star system between them. The smart thing to do would be to simply ask her, but he was afraid (of so many things) that his deepest fears would be realized, the thing that roused him, sweating and swallowing back a thick lump he refused to believe could be tears, in the dead of night from a restless sleep, and he would have to live with the fact that the greatest night of his life meant nothing to her. That he meant nothing to her, never had, never would. He couldn’t do that just yet. He wasn’t brave enough. 

He turned on the shower, stripping out of his ruined civilian clothes as he did so, already making plans on how best to get rid of them. They would never really be rid of that sewage smell, and even if they were, he would know they’d been in the sewer, that he’d been running around in shit. No, they had to go. He stepped into the shower, sighing blissfully as the warm water began to wash away the dirt and grime of the day. Even if he couldn’t be with Jotopa, he could at least enjoy a peaceful shower after a hard day’s work.

The fresher door slid open suddenly, and Jotopa strolled in, her eyes snapping with fire. Toby froze, eyes scanning her angry form. Probably while he was getting them off the planet and into hyperspace, she’d showered and changed into a tank top and pair of shorts. Her dark locs were gathered into a high ponytail that swung wildly with her head movements. Her feet were bare, toenails painted the same shade of pink as his armor. The expression of her face was one of barely controlled rage, arms crossed under her breasts as though she were holding herself back from strangling him. Toby swallowed and subtly turned his hips away so that she couldn’t see that just the sight of her, even as obviously angry as she was, had him half hard. Wasn’t his fault she was kriffing sexy when she was pissed, was it? Her eyes narrowed, and he felt his hackles raise in response. 

“Can I help you, sir?” He finally asked in a pointed and haughty tone of voice, deliberately turning his face into the spray of the shower and making a show of washing his chest and abdomen. Jotopa snorted contemptuously, her full lips twitching up into a mean little smirk even as her eyes momentarily followed the movements of his hands across his skin. 

“You sure can, Captain. You can start by telling me what the fuck your problem has been for the last two months. You’ve been acting like a bantha’s smelly asshole for over a month for no fucking reason!” She said, her voice raising and raising in volume until she was yelling at him, taking a step into the small room as the intensity of her words increased. Toby nearly choked on his shower water. Was she kriffing serious? What his problem had been?! He wasn’t the one with the karking problem all this time! 

“Me? You’re the one with the kriffing problem, _sir_ ,” he said incredulously, blood beginning to rush through his veins as anger once again thickened his blood and colored his vision. She had some fucking nerve to say that to him! As if she wasn’t the one pushing him away, the one who had used him. 

She took another step closer, heedless of the water droplets wetting her shirt. Toby’s eyes caught and held on the droplets running down her smooth skin, his breath catching in the hollow of his throat as his traitorous eyes followed a stray bead down into her cleavage, before  he tore his gaze away to meet hers with an angry snort. 

“What problem do I have, _Captain_? Since you know so kriffing much,” she sneered, and he returned the favor, leaning his back against the shower wall in an attempt to give himself some breathing space. It was unfair, the vice grip she had on his body in without knowing or caring. 

“I know that you’re a goddamn coward,” he said, watching stonily as the pissed look on her face transformed into full-fledged rage, “and I know that you’re fucking cruel.”

She stepped into the shower, ignored the scorching hot water drenching her, and gripped him by the biceps, pressing him harder against the tile, her blunt nails digging into his skin as she stared up at him with hot, black eyes.

“How am I a coward? How am I cruel? What did I fucking do to you for you to talk to me like that?” she growled, and he did sneer at her this time, finally fed up. Water beat down on him, plastering his hair to his skull, beating a furious rhythm against his neck and shoulders as he towered over her, crowding her until her back hit the cold wall of the shower and then bracketing her against it in the solid cage of his arms. She glared up at him defiantly, and distantly, Toby admired the raw beauty of this woman he loved.

“You kriffing used me, Jo, and instead of just telling me the truth, you’ve been stringing me along and making me feel like shit,” he paused, resting all his weight on one hand so he could cup her cheek and jaw in the other. Stars, she was so kriffing tiny compared to him. How did he let her hurt him the way she did? He stroked her cheek idly with his thumb, resisting the urge to touch her lips. “That’s why you’re a cruel, and that’s why you’re a coward. You just fooled me by hiding it behind this pretty face.” 

“You don’t know a fucking thing about me, Toby,” she snarled, jerking lightly in his hold but not enough to break free. He smirked, knowing he’d gotten under her skin, and opened his mouth to say that he knew enough about her to know that, but she shoved against him, practically nose to nose with him as she continued in a low and violent voice, “walking around here like your shit doesn’t stink, calling me a coward when you’re the one too scared to just fucking ask me what’s wrong. You don’t get to talk to me like that or disrespect me and get away with it.” 

He laughed lowly, mockingly, dark eyes trailing down her wet body, and said, “I already have, and you didn’t do a thing about it.”

She smirked, tossing her hair, smirk widening when some of the wet locs caught him across the face. “Easy to talk shit behind my back. Why don’t you say it to my face?”

He grabbed her by the back of her neck, dragged her up until their lips were almost touching. “Easily done. I’ll even say it in Basic to make sure you understand me,” he looked her dead in the eyes, felt her heaving chest pressing against his, her nails digging into his thick shoulders, eyes narrowed and dark with the same swirling mix of rage and lust he felt. “I said: suck my di-”

She was on him before he could finish, her mouth hard and angry against his as she demanded entrance into his mouth. He grunted, stiff for the briefest second as shock ran through him, giving up ground beneath her assault with a surprised and relieved groan. They clawed at each other, mouths biting and sucking as though they could tear the angry words from each other instead of speaking them. 

“Fuck you for not having the balls to ask me what was wrong,” she growled between heavy kisses, crawling up his body and winding her legs around his naked hips even as he was busily dragging her soaked shorts down her legs.

“Fuck you for creating the situation in the first fucking place,” he grunted, holding her firmly and spreading her wide as he probed her entrance with his erection, burying his face in the crook of her neck to muffle his guttural moan when he pressed inside. Kriffing…finally. He softly kissed the wildly fluttering pulse at the base of her neck, breathing ragged as he held himself still. Stars, he wanted to move so badly he could taste it, and by the quivering of her hips held firmly in his hands, he knew she wanted him to just as badly, but…

“Tell me why,” he murmured against her, and he felt her swallow thickly even as she looped her arms around his shoulders, scraped her fingers across his scalp.

“Toby -”

“Please,” he begged softly, his hold on her tightening, voice thick in his throat, “tell me what I did wrong, Jo’ika.”

She gasped, pulled back to cup his face in her hands and meet the vulnerable expression on his face with one of her own. “You didn’t do anything wrong, love. It was me. It’s always going to be me. There’s something wrong with me. No, there is,” she exclaimed when his eyes narrowed and he began to open his mouth, “there has to be. It’s the only thing that explains why I…why I got so scared when I realized how happy I was with you. I’ve never felt this way before, I…I thought if I gave myself space to process it, I could fix the problem.” She let go of his face, wound her arms around him again, resting her cheek on his shoulder. He shivered at the soft kiss she pressed to the soft skin she found there. “But I can’t fix it, so you’re better off leaving me alone.”

“You don’t get to make that decision for me,” he said firmly. “Now, listen to me: you tell me when something scares you or bothers you. That’s the only way I can fix it. Don’t leave me in the dark about shit and let me come to my own conclusions cause I’m always gonna go to the worst possible one.”

She bit her lip. “I don’t want to be another obligation -”

He shifted her weight, hissing in pleasure when she squeezed him from within, and grabbed the back of her neck, forcing her to look at him. He glared at her. “You. Are. Not. An. Obligation. Are you listening to me? I _want_ to take care of you, can you understand that? Stupid _Jetti_ , I can’t -” 

The time for talking was over. If he couldn’t use his words to convince her, then he would simply show her. He kissed her deeply, wishing he could hold her close enough, tight enough, that she would know how much he cared for her. She kissed him back just as deeply, rolling her hips in time with his, both of them knowing that they wouldn’t last long. But that was okay. There would be other chances, of that Toby was suddenly, thankfully sure. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> sooran ni’jagyc: suck my dick


End file.
